Categoria: Rome

If you ask to people which is the most famous fountain in the world, they will tell you that it is Trevi Fountain.

Scenic and majestic, you can feel  its presence at the beginning of the street that lead to it: the noise of falling water in the tanks is mixed with the voices of tourists who are launching the famous “dime’s return to Rome.”

Inaugurated in 19 a. C. the Trevi Fountain was conceived by M. V. Agrippa and it is a unique example of ancient Roman aqueducts which always worked sincethe time of Augustus up to the present day. Its name is probably due to the presence of the intersection of three roads or triple water junction.

In 1453 Pope Nicholas V started the aqueduct restoration work following the plans of Leon Battista Alberti and Bernardo Rossellini, architects of the Virgin waters. The name of the Virgin Water, according to legend, would have been given by Agrippa in memory of a young girl (virgo) that would have  indicated the place of the springs to the soldiers who were looking for it. The architects built a design  of the fountain decorated with coats of arms of the Pope and  Roman people, under which the water emitted by three streams, gathered in a rectangular basin.

In 1640 Urbano VIII Barberini decided that the fountain had to change orientation and entrusted the project to Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The construction work, however, were limited to the installation of a base with a tank in front of which there were  three pipe unions. In 1732 Clemente XII Corsini organized a competition for the adjustment of the Trevi Fountain in which took  part the most important artists of the time. Among the projects of the architect  Nicola Salvi, the Pope preferred  the more monumental . Salvi with great competence and professionalism was in charge for the construction work from 1732 until 1752, the year of his death, with his good friend Luigi Vanvitelli.

The central part of the Trevi Fountain façade is developed as a triumphal arch, with a deep niche and Corinthian columns. At the center there is a large inscription that recalls the construction of the fountain commissioned by Pope Clemente XII whose portrait is at the top. Four big statues of 1735 adorn the building itself and symbolize, from left, the fruits of Abundance by  Agostino Corsini, the Fields  Fertility by Bernardo Ludovisi, the Autumn  Gifts of Francesco Queirolo and Amenity of fields by Bartolomeo Pincellotti.

In the large central niche there is a huge statue of Ocean that is driving a large shell-shaped chariot, pulled by two winged sea horses, one angry and the other one peaceful, conducted by one young  triton  and one  mature symbolizing the different features of nature and man’s age.

The sides of the large niche exhibit statues of Healthiness and Abundance by Filippo Della Valle, and the reliefs depicting the Virgin showing the source by the soldiers of Grossi, and Agrippa agree that the construction of the aqueduct of Bergondi. The official opening of the Trevi Fountain was on May 22 of 1762.

The beautiful and surprising bath in the Trevi Fountain of Anita Ekberg with an  evening dress in the movie “La Dolce Vita” made it famous worldwide. But how could we forget Toto in the movie Tototruffa who tries to sell it to a tourist? Each year the City of Rome earn from these coins about 600 thousand Euros, for Caritas Solidarity projects.

The first thing that will draw your attention is its  large Latin inscription with bronze letters: M.AgrippaL.F.Cos. Tertium.Fecit ( “Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, Consul for the third time, built”). In fact, this inscription dates back to the first “version” of the Pantheon built by Agrippa, son of Augustus, in 27 BC.

What we see today, however, is the Pantheon completely rebuilt by Hadrian in 118-125, who wanted to keep on the front of the building the original inscription to which the scholars, for a long time, could not give a precise chronological position.

The Pantheon, in greek, is the place where all the gods meet. The function that it was supposed to have in ancient Rome is still uncertain. According to historians, it was built to house the statues of many gods of pagan Rome, but the name may also derive from the fact that the dome refer tothe sky. Agrippa  wanted to make a temple dedicated to the worship of the gods protectors of the Julian family, especially Mars and Venus.

When the Empire was destroyed the Pantheon was abandoned until the emperor of Byzantium, Foca, gave it in 608 to Boniface IV who consecrated it to the Virgin and all the martyrs. After it also had the function of small fortress and in 1652 Urban VIII Barberini eliminated the bronze coating of the colonnade beams from which he obtained 80 guns for  Castel Sant’Angelo and the four twisted columns of St. Peter’s canopy. When it was proclaimed the Unity, Pantheon had the function of sacrariumof the kings of Italy and the following  restoration  deleted the iron grating of the colonnade and the famous “donkey ears”, the bell towers added by Gian Lorenzo Bernini.

Tourists are amazed by the contrast between the squared entrance(Pronao), typical of the temples, and the immense rounded interior space typical of structures in Ancient Rome with a thermal function. The imposing colonnade , beyond which there are the portal and two niches probably  for the statues of Augustus and Agrippa, is decorated with 16 grey and pink granite columns  13 meters high. The walls of the round  are made by brick and the dome, the largest ever built in masonry, is made by conglomeration.

The dome of the Pantheon is one of the wonders of all time: a real technological gem that overcame 2,000 years of earthquakes. The dome in concrete, in fact, was built by following a pioneering technique that used materials always lighter from the bottom to the top. The architects used a particularly light conglomeration (opus caementicium) formed by mortar and travertine flakes, replaced as they went up to the top by lapillus and pumice stone. Under the stones there is a wooden structure with  many arches on which it is distributed the weight.

Inside the Pantheon there are seven semi-circular and rectangular niches made,  ribbed ancient yellow columns and niches with columns supporting tympanum; there is then an eighth niche, topped by an arch, which is situated opposite the entrance. In the vault adorned with five series of ceiling coffers, the only source of natural light is the bronze eye  of 9 meters and the floor has squares and circles pattern. In almost all niches there is something to admire: the first is the “Annunciation” fresco by Melozzo da Forli, in the second there is the tomb of Vittorio Emanuele II designed by ManfredoManfredi, in the sixth there are the tombs of Umberto I and Margherita di Savoia, in the seventh, called the Virtuoso of the Pantheon, there are funeral inscriptions of FlaminioVacca, Taddeo Zuccari and Perin del Vaga. Inside the Pantheon there is also the tomb of Raffaelloplaced under the Madonna del Sasso byLorenzetto.

It is said that in the Pantheon it never rains, although there is the huge oculus from which it should enter the water. In fact, in the Pantheon it rains like in all the houses where there is no roof. Not surprisingly, in the middle of the floor, just below the oculus, there are gutters that collect the rain.

If there is a universal symbol to identify Rome in the world, this is certainly the Flavian Amphitheatre, or as it is more commonly called, the “Colosseum”, the largest amphitheatre in the world. One of 10 things to see in Rome and perhaps in the world. Since 72 A. D. it stands majestically in the archaeological heart of Rome, wanted by the Flavian dynasty who built it in the area occupied by the  artificial lake of the Domus Aurea.

The “Colosseum” is named after an imposing bronze statue, the “Colossus of Nero”, which was located close to it. Its central location was made possible after the disastrous fire in 64 d. C. during the reign of Nero. It was an easy place to reach, since then, there were no mass transportation.

In 79 A.D. the Colosseum was dedicated to Vespasian and was inaugurated by Titus in 80 A.D.  with games that lasted 100 days  during which 5,000 animals were slaughtered, sacrificed to gain favour of the citizens. The Colosseum was later completed by Domitian and restored by Severus Alexander. During the late Empire inside the Colosseum were organised performances with hunts and gladiator fights. In 217 A.D. the upper porch of the Colosseum and the underground structures burned down by a fire and shows for the next five years had to take place in the Circus Maximus. This explains the characteristic shape that made it famous all over the world. Between 250 and 252 and in 320 A.D. other fires devastated it. Later there was also a disastrous earthquake in September 1349 that brought down a large part of the exterior walls and arches of the amphitheatre support.

Large amounts of travertine blocks, that made up the primary structure of the building, were taken away and used for the reconstruction of buildings destroyed. Step by step  the Colosseum was  abandoned and at first was transformed into a fortress against the barbarian invasions and further as a mine. Since it was  ruined and degraded, the Pope Sixtus V decided to shoot it down completely but then, he  chose to introduce it in the itinerary of the basilicas. The continuous raids finally ended  in the eighteenth century when Benedict XIV dedicated the amphitheatre to the passion of Christ and was raised  the crucifix in the central part of the building.

The Colosseum is made of travertine in the external side and load-bearing structure, while in other areas is made up of tuff, brick and concrete. It is long 188 meters and wide 156 metres . Three rows of arches on the façade about 50 meters high, while the  elliptical arena inside  is 86x54m and was separated from the auditorium by a podium, decorated with niches and embellished with marble. It was reserved exclusively to the members of the imperial family and other personalities. The auditorium was divided according to the social class of the spectators: the lower bleachers reserved for the patricians were in marble and divided into sectors, while the last, in which there was the plebs, were made of wood and separated by a high wall. The amphitheatre could accommodate about 150,000 spectators who could access through the vaulted corridors with stairs of the various plans; a drape  provided protection from the sun. In the basements of the arena there were tunnels for the beasts, the scenic equipment and elevators. Among the services to the public, in addition to drinking fountains scattered along some interior corridors, there were some  extravagant  fountains  with rose scented liquids, saffron or other essences.

The amphitheatre was the setting for different types of games: fights between animals (venationes), condemned people  killed by wild beasts (noxii) and fights between gladiators (munera). The periods in which there were more  shows were spring, summer (except August) and autumn. The gladiators were the ones that attracted the attention of the people. The tradition of the fighting seems to have been handed down by the Etruscans who believed it was right to sacrifice the prisoners of war or slaves during the games. The Romans also really appreciated the naval battles during the reigns of Domitian and Vespasian; This suggests that the original paving of the Colosseum was of such magnitude that it could contain a great amount of water. The latest evidence of the fights of gladiators is dated back  to 437, but the amphitheatre was still used for the killing of animals around the 523, under Theodoric.

Only after the conquest of Asian and African provinces, the Latin world  had the opportunity to know the extravagant  unusual and scary appearances of beasts. Their brutality and their size intrigued and attracted the public who loved this exciting entertainment, especially when brave men had to fight  them. The struggles with the beasts were very bloody and included many animals of different races, excited and terrified by the noise of the crowd. Sometimes hunters with bows and arrows killed deer or gazelles, sometimes  exotic animals like ostriches were killed. Some shows were  fights between animals, for example, big animals were bound together by chains, while men teased them with long beams encouraging them to fight. The exploitation of exotic animals, such as tigers, in all major amphitheatres of the  Empire caused a real impoverishment of wildlife in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

They take their name from a short sword used during the fight. The barracks in which they lived were called “Ludusgladiatorius”. tHey were grouped into schools called “the Family”  where they learned the techniques of struggle and took care of their athletic training thanks to the masters: the “lanistae”, surviving veterans of hard battles with a lot of experience ; trainings were very hard. Much of the fighters were among slaves and prisoners of common crimes, but there were free men who risked their lives to get a little of celebrity and popularity. The reputation of the champions  was truly remarkable, the audience cheered them and followed them with great passion. The gladiators knew how to use  different weapons which assumed different techniques of assault or defence. According to their type of armament they were called by different names: Cetervari, Secutores, Reziari, Mirmillones Traces.

We cannot tell you the history of Galleria Borghese in Rome and its masterpieces without telling you aboutScipione Borghese. Son of the sister of Camillo Borghese, who became in 1605 Paul V, important nepotistic pope , Scipione was decreed  Cardinal immediately after the election of his uncle, just two months after.

Scipione was only 26 years old and was entrusted several important tasks of responsibility: he was prefect of the Congregation of the Council, protector of churches, religious orders and regions, Grand Penitentiary, Archbishop of Bologna, and more. But despite all the heavy commitments he never gave up on his true passion: the art. He subsidized many talents such as Caravaggio, Bernini, Nicolas Cardier, Guido Reni, Domenichino and Rubens, and he  was also famous and  feared for the lack of scruples with which he got the artworks.

Domenichino  was a victim of this ruthlessness and arrogance in 1616-17, when  he was imprisoned for refusing to give to the Cardinalthe painting of  Diana’s Hunt that was ordered by another cardinal, Pietro Aldobranchini. But also the monks of the church of San Francesco in Perugia lost their masterpiece of Raphael’s Deposition without their authorization. Moreover in 1607 were confiscated 107 paintings to the painter Giuseppe Celestial, just to increase its already impressive collection. The collection of Scipione Borghese was already considerable when the Cardinal in 1609 acquired a building in Via dellaConciliazione, next to St. Peter’s. This house became the first one of the collection which remained there until he moved into the villa Pinciana, at the top of Villa Borghese: thus was born Galleria Borghese.

The artworks of Galleria Borghese are divided into twenty rooms on two floors. On the ground floor are located some sculptures, not only the ancient ones, but also those ordered to some artists of the period, in addition to those received in the following centuries. A spiral staircase leads from the ground floor to the first floor where in twelve halls there is the gallery with hundreds of paintings: an anthology of paintings from the sixteenth to the eighteenth century. A huge, great, uniquecollection, , where all schools are represented: the Italian Mannerism and Florentine one, the Lombard school, Ferrara, Florence, Siena, Brescia, Venetian and Roman. On this page some of the must-see works  at the Galleria Borghese.

At the centre of the first room, stands one of the most famous statues in the world, the one of Pauline Borghese that Antonio Canova created  between 1805 and 1808. No less famous is, in the second room, the David that Cardinal Scipione commissioned to the young Gian Lorenzo Bernini; Apollo and Daphne are in the middle of the third room, and in the fourth the marble group depicting the Rape of Proserpine. The fifth room is called the Hermaphrodite because of the presence of a Greek sculpture of Hermaphrodite, which dates back to the first century after Christ. There are other two works by Bernini in the sixth room, Aeneas, Anchises and Ascanius, while in the seventh room, the Egyptian room , there are two statues of Isis, a first-century AD bronze, the other in black marble, about 150 AD.

Caravaggio was the favourite artist of Cardinal Borghese, so no wonder that here there are six works: Our Madonna and Child with St. Anne (Dei Palafrenieri) , the famous Boy with a Basket of Fruit, Young Sick Bacchus, St. Jerome Writing, St. John the Baptist and David with the head of Goliath, Caravaggio’s portrait.

Also Raffaello was loved by Scipione Borghese, infact there are three paintings : Portrait of a Man, Portrait of Young Woman with Unicorn, and the Entombment known as the Pala Baglione. The way the Entombment reached Rome can explain the character of Scipione Borghese: it was painted for AtalantaBaglioni in memory of her son  Grifonetto, killed in the struggle for the rule of Perugia. The painting was in the church of San Francesco in Perugia. Here it remained for 101 years, until when , with the complicity of the local clergy, was picked up and sent to Paul V, who gave it to his nephew for the collection.

When Tiziano was just  25 years old, painted in 1514 “The Sacred and Profane Love” for the wedding of Nicholas Aurelius, and Laura Bagarotto. The candid bride, close to Love, is assisted by Venus herself. The two perfect women symbolize: the first one the “short happiness on earth” with the vase of joys and the second one the eternal and heavenly happiness, holding the burning flame of God’s love.